Sam I am

Samantha Perry, 25, is a local actor, bartender, former ice cream scooper and one-time heir to Chico’s infamous Top Flight Ballroom. She was born in Redding but has lived in Chico for the last 20 years. She is a member of the Blue Room and has appeared on stage at the Senator and the August Moon Theater Company. She’s taken this theater season off but plans to return next year. She has a fear of driving and in fact has never been behind the wheel of a car in her life. She bikes, walks and takes the bus.

Are you named after Samantha Stevens, the character played by Elizabeth Montgomery on the beloved ‘60s television series Bewitched?

No, Samantha Micelli from TV’s beloved Who’s the Boss? Or rock star Samantha Fox. I’m not sure which.

Which would you prefer?

Samantha Fox is a little naughtier, but the other one is pretty cute, so I don’t know.

What’s the worst job of any kind that you’ve had?

Anything that involves a uniform or a toilet bowl cleaner.

Tell us about your connection to the Top Flight Ballroom?

My parents owned it, and that was why we actually moved here to town. Before that it was called Third & Up, and it was a telephone bar. They had telephones at every table, and you could call up and buy people drinks.

Are there any roles that you would refuse to play on stage?

It wouldn’t necessarily be a role that I would refuse to play; it would be a script that I didn’t believe in. I would play any role.

Have you turned down scripts? And by whom?

Yes, but that [second question] could get me in trouble.

What do you think, as a non-car person, of building a new four-level parking structure downtown?

They should bring back the yellow bike system.

I think those bikes all ended up in Oroville.

Yeah, spray-painted black. But at least the people in Oroville are getting around well.

What do you want people to know about you?

Fifty percent of what you hear and see is true. The other 50 percent you can make up. And I encourage people to go to the Blue Room. And to Stormy’s [where she bartends].

What is your best attribute?

The ability to have fun in any situation.